Shuffle Master, Revlon, Spirit Finance, more

MichaelBaron

Advancers

Shares of Cadbury Schweppes
CSG, -0.87%
rose 8.6% Tuesday after the chocolate and soda maker disclosed that the activist ex-owner of Snapple has built a 2.98% stake in the company. See full story.

Comarco
CMRO, +1.97%
shares gained 10% after the company said it's going to pay a special $1 a share dividend on April 23 to shareholders of record on April 5. "The combination of our strong balance sheet, return generated from our investment in SwisQual AG, and the finalization of our fiscal 2008 business plan has enabled us to enhance shareholder returns through this special cash dividend," said Chairman and CEO Tom Franza in a statement. Comarco said the decision shouldn't be construed as a determination to pay regular dividends.

J2 Global Communications Inc.
JCOM, +0.01%
shares surged 10% after the company was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies & Co. The firm also boosted its price target on the stock to $31 from $27. After Monday's closing bell, the Los Angeles messaging and communications services provider forecast earnings of 32 to 33 cents a share for the first quarter on revenue of $51.1 million to $52.1 million. Wall Street's current consensus estimate is for a profit of 31 cents a share in the March period.

Jo-Ann Stores Inc.
JAS, +0.00%
shares added 12% after the company reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $25.8 million, or $1.05 a share. In the same quarter last year, the company posted a net loss of $18 million, or 78 cents a share. Revenue at the Hudson, Ohio-based fabrics and crafts retailer fell 0.5% to $600.8 million from $604.1 million, while same-store sales dropped 6%. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting a per-share profit of 98 cents on revenue of $614 million. Jo-Ann expects fiscal 2008 earnings of 55 cents to 65 cents a share and for same-store sales to improve to positive. Analysts are forecasting a per-share profit of 30 cents.

Option Care Inc.
OPTN
shares rose almost 4% after Standard & Poor's said it will add the Buffalo Grove, Ill.-based company to the SmallCap 600 index after the close of trading March 15, replacing Hancock Fabrics Inc.
HKF, -21.92%

Qualcomm Inc.
QCOM, -0.95%
shares added 4.3% after the company raised its forecast for the current quarter, its second fiscal period, citing better-than-expected sales of chipsets used in advanced wireless phones. See full story.

Smith & Wesson
SWHC
shares gained 6.7% after the company said fiscal third-quarter net income rose to $1.5 million, or 4 cents a share, from $1.1 million, or 2 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Sales rose to $53.9 million from $38.6 million. Analysts, on average, expected it to earn 4 cents a share on revenue of $51 million, according to Thomson Financial. Smith & Wesson, whose products include, guns, rifles, knives and hunting accessories, expects sales for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2008 of about $320 million, up 42% over forecasted fiscal 2007 sales of about $225 million. This increase in sales is expected to be driven by growth in the core handgun business, the ramp up of its long gun product lines and the full year impact of Thompson/Center Arms. For fiscal 2008, it expects net income of about 60 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect it to earn 59 cents a share on revenue of $293 million, on average, for fiscal 2008.

Spirit Finance Corp.
SFC, +0.00%
shares jumped 11% after the company agreed to be acquired by a consortium led by Macquarie Bank Ltd. for $14,50 a share, or $3.5 billion including $1.9 billion of debt. Spirit, Scottsdale, Ariz., said the purchase price is a 15% premium above Spirit's 90-day average closing price and an 11% premium above Spirit's closing price on March 12.

Technitrol Inc.
TNL, -7.42%
shares rose 8.1% after the Philadelphia-based maker of electronic components forecast first-quarter earnings of 33 cents to 35 cents, excluding items, on revenue of $233 million to $236 million. Analysts are looking for a per-share profit of 35 cents. Separately, the company also announced a restructuring of its automotive electronic components business, including the closure of plants in Germany and Tunisia. Technitrol expects the restructuring to generate $10 million to $12 million in additional annual operating profit. The company estimated the cost of the restructuring at $12 million to $13 million.

WCI Communities
WCI, +92.90%
shares surged 15% after investor Carl Icahn and affiliates said they plan to begin a $22-a-share tender offer for any and all shares of the company. The offer represents a 16% premium over Monday's closing price of $18.97 a share. Icahn said the offer, subject to the redemption of the company's recently adopted "poison pill," will remain open if the current board prevents the conditions from being satisfied so that his nominees, if elected, can enact the conditions. The offer isn't subject to due diligence or financing. "We believe the board and (chief executive) of WCI have not enabled the company to maximize the potential of its unique set of assets which trade at a discount to their GAAP book value," Icahn said in a statement.

Decliners

Shares of Accredited Home Lenders Holdings
LEND
plunged 65% Tuesday after the company said it's currently exploring its strategic options. The San Diego mortgage company, which operates in the troubled sub-prime loan category, said it plans to seek additional capital since its available cash resources have been hurt by margin calls under its warehouse and repurchase facilities since the beginning of the year. The company said it's paid about $190 million in margin calls on its facilities since Jan. 1 with two-thirds of that coming since Feb. 15. Accredited Home is also seeking waivers and extensions of certain financial and operating covenants under its credit facilities. The company is also pursuing certain restructuring activities, including workforce reductions. In addition, it's continuing to evaluate the impairment of goodwill established in relation to its acquisition of Aames Investment in the fourth quarter, a condition that makes it unlikely the company will be able to file its Form 10-K by March 16 - the previously indicated deadline. See full story.

American Oriental Bioengineering Inc.
AOB
shares tumbled 26% after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $10.9 million, or 17 cents a share, up from $4.18 million, or 10 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue at the New York-based pharmaceutical company rose to $41.3 million from $19.8 million. For the first quarter of fiscal 2007, the company expects earnings of 10 cents a share on revenue of $24 million to $25 million. For fiscal 2007, American Oriental forecast revenue of $143 million to $147 million.

Comstock Homebuilding Cos.
CHCI, -6.11%
shares lost 8.8% after the company swung to a fourth-quarter per-share loss of $1.79 from a net income of 66 cents a share a year earlier. The Reston, Va., company's revenue nearly doubled to $123.3 million from $77.2 million in the year-ago period. On average, analysts expected a per-share loss of $1.42 on revenue of $125.8 million, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.

Cosi Inc.
COSI
shares dropped 7.9% after the company said Chief Executive Kevin Armstrong has resigned for health reasons. Also, the Deerfield, Ill.-based restaurant operator named Robert Merritt, one of its directors, interim CEO.

Ixia
XXIA
shares fell 11% after the Calabasas, Calif.-based company reported late Monday reported fourth-quarter net income of $4.5 million, or 7 cents a share, up from $3.65 million, or 5 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding certain items, Ixia posted a per-share profit of 13 cents compared with 6 cents last year. Revenue climbed to $47.4 million from $35.5 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting a per-share profit of 9 cents on revenue of $42.8 million.

Emisphere Technologies Inc.
EMIS, -2.58%
shares tumbled 11% after the biopharmaceutical company said an addendum to its 2006 Form 10-K contains a paragraph by Emisphere's accountant expressing "substantial doubt" about the company's ability to continue as a going concern. According to Emisphere, the doubt was raised in the audit report because the company does not expect its capital resources to allow it to operate past September of 2007. Emisphere said it is evaluating various financing options.

Goodrich Petroleum
GDP, -1.36%
shares lost 7.8% after the company said it swung to a fourth-quarter net loss of $24 million, or 96 cents a share, from net profit of $8 million, or 33 cents a share, a year earlier. Results for the latest quarter included a $7.9 million charge reflecting the impact of dry hole costs in South Louisiana and $24.8 million of non impairment charges to oil and gas properties. Revenue climbed 22% to $31 million. The company said its year-end reserves stood at a record 206 billions of cubic feet equivalent.

Lehman Brothers Holdings
LEH
shares dropped 5.9% after the company said it has acquired a 20% stake in the investment firm D.E. Shaw for an undisclosed amount. The 19-year-old investment firm has $29 billion in aggregate investment capital. D.E. Shaw received an upfront payment March 12 and will receive "future contingent payments," the companies said. See full story.

Shares of Hovnanian
HOV, +3.91%
fell 6.8%, while KB Home
KBH, +1.42%
shares dropped 5.4% and Meritage Homes slipped 6.5% on rising concerns that homebuilders will feel the pain from the subprime meltdown. See full story.

New Century Financial
NEWC, -66.67%
shares stumbled 30% said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it's received notices of default and reservation of rights from Barclays, Guaranty Bank, Morgan Stanley, State Street Global Markets and UBS Real Estate Securities. Sutton Funding has issued it a servicing transfer notice. Morgan Stanley's last "limited" financing is expected to occur on Tuesday. New Century has now received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California and a letter from the staff of the Pacific Regional Office of the SEC stating that the staff was conducting a prelimimary investigation. In addition, the company's stock is being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. See full story.

Revlon Inc.
REV, +7.64%
shares fell 7.6% after the company said it swung to a fourth-quarter loss, hurt by restructuring costs and the discontinuation of its Vital Radiance brand. For the quarter, the company posted a loss of $5.5 million, or 1 cent a share. In the year-ago period, it earned $64.3 million, or 17 cents a share. Net sales fell to $378.9 million from $437.8 million. The sales decline was mainly driven by lower shipments, partially offset by lower returns, allowances and discounts. Revlon said it plans to continue to take advantage of opportunities to reduce and refinance its debt, including refinancing the remaining balance of our 8-5/8% senior subordinated notes due on Feb. 1, 2008.

Saba Software
SABA
shares sank 14% after the company said it expects non-GAAP results of between breakeven and a profit of 2 cents a share for the third quarter on revenue of between $24.4 million and $25.5 million. The company's previous non-GAAP outlook was for earnings of 7 to 10 cents a share in the period on revenue of $27 million to $28 million. The company cited lower than expected license revenue for the shortfall due to delays in completing a number of sizeable transactions by the end of the quarter.

Shuffle Master
SHFL
shares lost 8% after the company was downgraded to hold from buy at Jefferies & Co. The firm also lowered its price target range to $18-$20 from a prior target of $26, citing a lack of clarity on the outlook for placements. After Monday's close, the Las Vegas gaming equipment company forecast earnings from continuing operations of 5 cents as share on revenue of $37.3 million for the first quarter. It expects its total shuffler installed base to increase 18% to 22,815.

Stewart Enterprises Inc.
STEI
shares dropped 8.3% after the New Orleans owner and operator of funeral homes and cemeteries reported fiscal-first-quarter net income rose 42% on 5.2% higher revenue. For the quarter ended Jan. 31, earnings were $11.9 million, or 11 cents a share, compared with $8.4 million, or 8 cents, in the year-earlier period. Revenue reached $132.7 million from $126.1 million. Cemetery revenue rose 10%, helped by sales of cemetery property. In the funeral division, revenue rose 1.5% and the company saw "robust increases" in average revenue per service.

TransAct Technologies Inc.
TACT, +4.10%
shares tumbled 23% Tuesday trade after the Wallingford, Conn.-based printer maker late Monday reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $983,000, or 10 cents a share. In the same quarter last year, the company posted a net loss of $727,000, or 8 cents a share. Revenue rose to $15.7 million from $12.5 million. "On balance, although early 2007 order rates imply a slowdown for the first quarter of 2007 from recent growth rates, we anticipate stronger sales growth, compared to the first quarter 2007, during the remaining quarters of this year," said Chief Executive Bart Shuldman in a statement.

Wireless Facilities Inc.
WFII
shares fell 23% after the company said it plans to delay its 2006 annual report as it continues to investigate options backdating. In the delayed report, the company will record a $9.2 million charge related to the accelerated vesting of all of its employees stock options an $18.3 million goodwill impairment charge, and a $3.4 million asset impairment charge.

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